its time chiefs: officially retire the number of the greatest chief of all

I like to throw around the word "outrage" a lot.

A couple examples of what I like to think is an "outrage", to prove my point:

* I think it is an outrage that cops do not ticket slow vehicles in the passing lane. I often question if these people are mentally retarded. Hello! It's called a "passing lane"! By its very definition you have to be going faster than at least the vehicle next to you! What's so difficult to understand about that?

* I think it is an outrage that college athletes are not allowed to personally profit from their name or their exploits. Let's all hope and pray the Sam Keller / Ed O'Bannon lawsuit about to be heard ends this outrage.

* I believe it is an outrage that the NFL did not force the denver broncos to vacate their two Super Bowl championships when they were proven guilty of cheating to win those championships by circumventing the salary cap. The NCAA requires teams to vacate titles for less outrageous offenses. All the donkeys had to pay for sliding the cash under the table to terrell davis was forfeiting a 5th round pick. Christ, the Patriots had to lose more than that for video-taping opponents, which technically was not illegal at the time they did it.

I could go on all day of things that outrage me. But there is one outrage that stands above all the others. And today, June 29th, the 28th anniversary of the saddest day in Kansas City sports history, I have to once again scream the outrage into print.

And it is this:

It is beyond outrageous that the Kansas City Chiefs have not officially retired Number 37.

Joe Delaney was inducted into the Chiefs Hall of Fame in 2004. He was inducted into life's Hall of Fame (known as heaven) on June 29, 1983. If you don't know the story of Joe Delaney, you should. And I'd say that even if Delaney had played for the denver broncos. This man was a true hero in every sense of the word. That's another word that gets used way too often -- hero. Most people described as a "hero" are anything but. (Exhibit A? Derrick Thomas. Not a hero. Not even close.)

Delaney? Hero.

Delaney played two seasons for the Chiefs. He won the NFL's Rookie of the Year in 1981, rushing for nearly 1,100 yards, making the Pro Bowl, and helping lead the Chiefs to their first winning record since 1973. He ran for nearly 5 yards a carry, and gave Chiefs fans their first reason to hope in a decade. The strike ruined his second season, as he only played in 8 games ... yet he still made the Pro Bowl, led the Chiefs in rushing, and for the first time in a decade, the Chiefs finally had a star to build the franchise around.

But it's not his on-the-field accomplishments that makes not officially retiring Number 37 an outrage -- it's his off the field achievements. Joe Delaney passed away attempting to save three kids from drowning in a swimming hole. By all accounts, Delaney could not swim. Yet he never hesitated to leap into the hole when those three kids ventured too far into the deep end (accounts say the hole dropped from 4 feet to 20 feet in a step or two). His actions saved one life, and nearly saved another (the kid died at the hospital), before Delaney and the third child succumbed to the water.

And yet, the Chiefs have yet to officially retire his jersey number. Number 37.

It makes no freaking sense. The Chiefs have officially retired ten numbers -- 3, 16, 18, 28, 33, 36, 58, 63, 78, and 86. Eight of these, most Chiefs fans know by heart. Jan Stenerud, Len Dawson, Abner Haynes, Emmitt Thomas, Derrick Thomas, Willie Lanier, Bobby Bell, Buck Buchanan.

It's the other two that make Joe Delaney's lack of official recognition so outrageous.

33 -- Stone Johnson. Never heard of him? Not surprising, seeing as how Johnson never played an official down for the Chiefs. He tragically passed away in training camp in 1963, and the Chiefs retired Johnson's number. Seems like the right thing to do.

36 -- Mack Lee Hill. Like Delaney, he played two seasons for the Chiefs. Like Delaney, he went to a predominatly black Southern college (Grambling). I mention this, because the Chiefs were one of the very few teams, either in the AFL or the NFL, to actively scout and draft black college players. Today, that sounds like a trivial thing, but 50 years ago? In the height of the struggle for civil rights and equality? It was a huge deal. (And a tribute to the class, grace, and dignity of the late Lamar Hunt. A 1960s Texas guy without a tinge of racism to him. Sweet.)

Like Delaney, he was a running back, and a damned good one, whose life was tragically cut short at the age of 25. Hill died when surgery to repair a damaged knee went horribly wrong. The Chiefs honored Hill's memory, career, and life by retiring his jersey number, and naming their Rookie of the Year award after Hill.

Both Johnson and Hill are sad stories. Both were promising lives cut short. Both were honored for their achievements by the Chiefs with official number retirements.

And yet, Number 37 is still available for the taking. Officially, any player can come in off the street, request number 37, and have it assigned to them. Shane Banner, our 7th round draft pick this year, wore number 37 in college. Because of the lockout, no jersey numbers have been issued yet for the draft class. But yes, I am damned nervous someone will have 37 assigned to them.

Unofficially, of course, Number 37 is retired. Noone has worn Joe Delaney's number in the 28 years since his passing. And certainly, I hope this continues in 2011 and beyond.

But the unofficial stance begs the obvious question, which is this -- if the Chiefs ownership, front office, coaching staff, and community of players thinks so highly of who Joe Delaney was, both as a player and as a person, that they won't let anyone wear Number 37 in his honor, why in the hell is Number 37 not officially retired then?

It's an outrage. It's an outrage that need to end, damned soon. It should have ended in 1983. It most certainly should have ended in 2004, when Delaney was inducted into the Ring of Honor and Chiefs Hall of Fame. You can make a damned good argument that, at the latest, it should have ended when his bust was created and enshrined in the new Chiefs Hall of Fame on the south side of the stadium last summer.

And until the Chiefs rectify this outrage, this insane, ridiculous slap to the face of a man who embodied everything that we as people should aspire to be, I'll continue to complain about it. Number 37 not being retired is the biggest outrage I can think of. And it's high damned time that outrage gets dealt with.